Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Teeth are the most durable part of the skeleton and often survive long after the rest of the body has decayed.

From Science Daily • Jun. 8, 2026

In “Vaccine Flag,” a vertical banner arcs gracefully across a soft gradient of L.A. haze, but the banner’s fabric is so tattered and decayed that its advertisement for vaccines is barely legible.

From Los Angeles Times • Feb. 16, 2026

Wage growth has decayed, and persistently elevated inflation is straining personal budgets.

From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 16, 2025

Methane spends a lot less time in the atmosphere than carbon dioxide; about 20 years after it's released, most of it will have decayed, while carbon dioxide lingers in the atmosphere for hundreds of years.

From Salon • Sep. 17, 2024

He believed that a large number of worlds had formed spontaneously out of diffuse matter in space, evolved and then decayed.

From "Cosmos" by Carl Sagan